Press: Bigotry in the bathroom

There are a lot of Bruce Springsteen fans in North Carolina. A lot of disappointed Springsteen fans, perhaps, but also proud Springsteen fans. 

They are proud that their favorite music hero made the decision to cancel a sold-out concert in Greensboro, N.C., scheduled for April 10 rather than perform in a state that has chosen to discriminate against LGBT Americans.

Yes, extreme and ignorant “religious” fanatics are at it again, with a new wave of legislation to allow discrimination against certain Americans in the name of religion, just as earlier generations of Christians used the Bible to justify the practice of slavery. 

They were wrong then, and they are wrong now.

{mosads}It all started in North Carolina, when the city of Charlotte joined hundreds of cities nationwide in enacting a new ordinance prohibiting local businesses from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender customers. Then, in a special one-day session, outraged at the prospect of providing any support for gay rights anywhere in the Tar Heel State, homophobes in the state General Assembly rushed through House Bill 2, which Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law the same night.

Under H.B. 2, North Carolina cities are banned from passing anti-discrimination measures to protect gays. They must follow state anti-discrimination law, which provides no protection for LGBT citizens (yes, you can still be fired in North Carolina only because you’re gay). 

The bill also requires transgender people to use public bathrooms based on the gender identity shown on their birth certificate, on the absurd notion that, otherwise, men will be rushing into ladies’ restrooms. 

An almost identical “bathroom bill” was signed into law in Mississippi, and similar legislation is pending in Missouri, South Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia. All such laws are clearly unconstitutional and will eventually be struck down by the courts. Until that happens, there are only three ways to block them.

The first is for Congress to pass the Employee Non-Discrimination Act, which has been pending without congressional action since 1994. 

Second would be for businesses to flex their political muscle. Threats from Coca-Cola and other companies to abandon Georgia convinced that state’s governor, Nathan Deal, to veto his state’s version of the bathroom bill. More than 100 companies in North Carolina — including Google, Starbucks, Citibank, Hilton and Wells Fargo — have petitioned McCrory to rescind H.B. 2. Discrimination, they argue, is not only un-American, it’s also bad for business.

A third scenario would see religious leaders repudiating this latest display of hatred masquerading as piety, promoted by phony Christians who believe the Gospels, which they’ve obviously never read, require them to deny certain people their God-given rights — when in fact the exact opposite is true. Jesus never talks about homosexuality in the New Testament, but he does teach us to love all persons, even those we disagree with, and to treat everyone with equal respect. There’s no way you can use the Bible to justify discrimination against anybody for any reason. 

Of course, that’s also what the Constitution says. But the religious zealots behind H.B. 2 have probably not read that, either. What they’re proposing is both immoral and unconstitutional. 

Press is host of “The Bill Press Show” on Free Speech TV and author of “Buyer’s Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down.”